PACKING UP TO LEAVE FOR TENNESSEE!

Well, here's a picture of the BEGINNING stages of the packing! You notice that important items like the spinning wheel and a box of my books "The Fields of May," went in first--priorities, you know!

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......I give your priesthood to you as a gift for service.....Numbers 18:7

It seemed appropriate to end what might be my last post of the month with a reminder for those who read my blog--October is pastor appreciation month! Having been a pastor's wife for 18 years, I feel like I have enough insight to comment on how it is to live in the parsonage! Of course I have never lived in a parsonage, we own our own home, but you know what I mean.

Most of you readers live far away from me and I trust you are involved in remembering your pastor and his wife at some point this month. If your church is doing something for the pastor, please make sure to include his wife. If you are doing something individually, remember her.

I thought I'd give a few little clues to what life is like for a pastor's wife for all of you who may not know. This will help you have more insight and creativitiy in honoring her this month. A pastor's wife is usually at church each time the doors are open as is her husband. She may have an outside job as well and this really means large demands on her time. She feels obligated (in many churches) to keep an immaculate house in case people stop in unannounced. I know we have housed guests countless times. Pastor's wives are called upon to exercise hospitality to overnight guests quite often, especially in smaller churches. Maybe she does not get a day off even though she'd like to honor the scriptures and take a rest. Sundays are hectic for her household and Monday rolls around with the usual washing, school, maybe a job, and clean up after the weekend. It's tiring sometimes.

If she lives in a parsonage, she may feel her home is not her own or it is on loan from the church and that makes it hard to relax in it and redecorate, etc. I have never experienced this, but can easily see it may happen. The pastor's wife is a church member just like all the rest of the congregation and she probably does many jobs in the church in addition to being the pastor's wife. Don't over expect from her for that reason. Being his wife is sometimes enough since you are automatically included in nearly everything.

She is invited to everything held in anyone's home--all the parties and etc. This requires either spending tons of money on unnecessary items so as not to offend the hostesses or not going at all. Her income may be limited. Pastors usually are not real high on the income ladders! Her family is invited (and expected to attend) all graduation parties (this requires gifts) and weddings, baby showers, etc., etc. Give her grace if she can't attend your make up party. She may be broke!

The wife of a pastor is most likely in on counseling sessions with her husband, including pre-marital counseling, and is often called upon to listen and "counsel" the women of the church (especially in small churches). Even though she may have no title and no monetary compensation, she is often pastoring right alongside her husband in a quiet, unnoticed way. Much of what he does requires and includes her. As well as that, she is still a wife, possibly a mother and grandmother.

Pray for your pastor and his wife often. Unique to the role of pastor's wife is a special kind of loneliness. Unlike anyone else in the congregation, she may feel she has no pastor and shouldnt' form close friendships for fear of being "cliqu-ish." It would seem like she would have the best of pastoring since she is living in the home of a pastor, but truthfully, it's difficult to pastor your own family. The pastor needs her to be his comfort and make a home that is a safe and comfortable haven for him to rest after the demands of the job. This complicates the role of "pastoring" your wife after you have already spent your best energies responding to the needs of everyone else. Try to understand that she might face issues like you do,but it is difficult for her to share them with anyone in the congregation. Her needs and difficulties often include the burdens of church work and the burdens that others have shared with her and this must all be held in confidence.

Having said all that, I want to say that there is a special grace for the jobs we are given in life. The Lord equips those He calls and He never leaves us. We have all we need for life and godliness, including the grace to do any job. But, in case you've never thought of it before, remember your pastor's wife during this month especially set aside to honor pastors. Blessings, LORI

CRITICAL REVIEWS

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SO MOSES SPOKE THUS TO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL; BUT THEY DID NOT HEED MOSES BECAUSE OF ANGUISH OF SPIRIT AND CRUEL BONDAGE. Exodus 6: 9



Today's verse might seem a little different to you until you read the entire post. But first, here are some pics I took this afternoon. The first one is the English garden in the drapings of fall! Quite a bit different from the glory of spring.




Here is a pic of our property looking west from the house. The woods are very pretty right now. We own a strip of land behind the woods on the right of the picture as well as the field of alfalfa in front of it and more acreage in front of the house and to the right of the picture. The English garden is to the front and left of this pic.




Now to refer back to the verse. I said I was going to begin going through my Bible and posting about verses I had underlined for various reasons. This particular verse always stood out to me. Even though Moses had received good news instructions from God, the Israelites were so beaten down that at first they could not even hear Moses wonderful declarations of their freedom. It is possible to become so oppressed as to miss all the good around you and forsake your very freedom! Take time to read this verse in context and apply it to your life. It seemed appropriate to me today since I had a hard day in alot of ways. It just seemed like nothing was going right. I can't even comprehend what 430 years of slavery would have done to the spirit of a people, when I started to get really down after just a few incidents all in one day. It just seemed alot of things converged today to make it a real tough day to remain focused and thankful. However there were also many good things that happened. Why do we tend to focus on the negative and let it begin to drag us down?

One of the good things was that we received our first invitation since we began sending out our letters making ourselves available for evangelistic meetings and preaching outside our church. Actually, the invitation came for Clint and for that we are thankful and humbled that the Lord chooses to use us in any capacity. Also Clint received an email from a person that heard his sermon yesterday and was so impressed that they asked if he posts outlines of his sermons or has a website! What nice confirmations to all his studying and diligence in preaching.

The economy here in Michigan is especially challenging right now. It has affected many people in various negative ways and our family is not immune to the difficulties it has presented though we have tried diligently to live above it and have done a fair job of it with the Lord's help. I'll not go into detail, but suffice it to say that some things due to the economy challenged some of our family today and I grieved for the difficulties these folks had to deal with.

To top that off, I received a critical review on "The Fields of May" from a store owner. A year ago this person had gotten a book to review as a possible addition to their inventory upon my request. They called me today to say they weren't interested in carrying it. When I asked why, they seemed hesitant to tell me. They finally said that books that have people doing all the right things and then all the right things result, are not always to their liking. I have received this same basic comment or criticism in various forms about 5 times since the printing of the book. Actually it's pretty much the only criticism I have received. Most reviews and comments I get are totally the opposite. People love the book for the very reason this person criticized it--that good wins out and diligent, consistent Christian living is rewarded with happiness and smooth sailing. I think we are sometimes as a society so inundated with the negative that we can't believe there could actually be good results from good living. It's the sowing and reaping principle. You reap what you sow. Yes, life has its ups and downs--as did my day, but I was trying to set an ideal in "The Fields of May," for people to strive for. The next two books in my series have alot more conflict as I've already shared in the courtship posts, so maybe I'll quit hearing this comment with those that are coming up. Just in case you've not read "The Fields of May," the conflict that takes place in that story is more of an inner conflict of waiting, wondering, and whether or not the main characters will decide to do God's will God's way or be disobedient.

Rhiannon and I are getting ready to go to Tennessee on Wednesday for our annual girls' vacation. We are so excited. I hope to find a way to post on this blog while I'm gone, but in case I can't, to all you followers, please do not give up on me! I appreciate that you take time to care about the things I have to share. This is a form of ministry for me. Just know that for 10 days or so there may not be much heard from me--not because I'm not full of things that the Lord is giving me to share, but because I am not sure what computer access will be available! I hope you will ponder the verse I shared today and the next time you are "down," you will remember that things are not so bad that the Lord will not lift you out of them allowing you to live on the higher plane of His goodness! Don't miss the freedom He has for you because of "anguish of spirit." Blessings, LORI

SHARING FAVORITE SCRIPTURES

Here are a few pictures of what I've been doing in the last few days. The top pic is of the yarn I've spun. Yarn from day one is on the left and yarn from day two and three is on the right. Can you see a big difference in just one day? I was excited that the progress went so well after only a day! I'm almost out of roving and will have to get more soon! The second picture is a pair of socks I've been knitting from self-striping yarn. Of course, that yarn is not homespun!

If you diligently heed wth voice of the Lord you God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you.

Exodus 15:26

Hi, Friends! I hope you enjoyed the pics of the spinning wheel and family! For the next while I'll be posting thoughts on scriptures that I have underlined or highlighted in my Bible. A Christian for 30+ years, I have done much Bible reading and studying. I thought I'd share some of my favorite verses with you and the insights that the Holy Spirit gives me when I read.

The verse at the top of today's post is one of my favorites. It is sometimes known as the Old Testament divine healing covenant. It is the verse that reveals to us one of God's seven redemptive names--Jehovah Rapha--the Lord who heals.

This verse is so precious to me because I know my Lord is a Healer and even attaches that important part of His personality to one of His names. Another verse just "around the corner" from this one is Exodus 20:24. In part it says, "....In every place where I record My name I will come to you and bless you." I like to cross reference my Bible and these two are cross referenced because they compliment one another so beautifully. God promises to "bless" us at the recording of His names. I take that to mean that He wants us to draw on what His names reveal about Him for the blessings that we need. The Israelites were to remember His names and the revelation of His character each time He gave them more information about Himself. Remember the Old Testament saints did not have a full revelation of the nature of God. Especially as early as Exodus, people were still learning about God. The Israelites did not know all that much about Him. Their wilderness journey and release from slavery was a learning experience about the God they were now serving.

When I feel symptoms of some sickness coming on, I get my Bible out as soon as I can and begin reading all the scriptures I have underlined that concern healing. Exodus 15:26 is the first one I read. It blesses me. If you read the verses before this one, you will realize that the Israelites were not far into their journey when the incident that caused a need for healing occurred. The waters were bitter in the place where they were camped and they needed to drink and water livestock. When Moses cried out to God for help, God showed him a tree. When Moses cast the tree into the waters, the waters were made sweet. There is so much that could be said here, but let me try to wrap it up quickly. Often in the scriptures, waters represent people. The "tree," I believe, is a type of the cross of Christ. When the redemption that Christ secured for us through his death and resurrection is applied to a group of people (the waters!) the waters or people are made "sweet." Isn't that a great concept to ponder? The waters were healed! Of course, there are lots of kinds of healing, but many other verses indicate that the price Christ paid on the cross (the tree) is a complete healing for the needs of mankind; physical, spiritual, emotional--everything we need.

It always amazes me that when you begin reading the Bible and centering on one verse, you could tie that verse into so many others. Probably as you read this today, you thought of other verses that apply as well! The Word of God is a wonderful revelation that compliments and explains itself. I hope what I shared today blessed you. Ponder it and read it. See what the Lord shows you about these truths. Blessings, LORI

HERE ARE A SOME PICTURES WE HAVE TAKEN IN THE LAST FEW DAYS!!!!!!!!

THE SURPRISE ITEM REVEALED IN THE FIRST PICTURE!!!! Yes, that's me spinning on a SPINNING WHEEL! Remember all the hints?? They are in fairy tales...some assembly required....Rumplestiltskin, Sleeping Beauty...etc., etc.

The spinning wheel is the item that lay in pieces until yesterday. We were oiling it and preparing it for assembly. I have wanted to learn to spin for years. I tried a drop spindle first, to no avail. Finally last year at the county fair, some ladies from the spinning and weaving guild were kind enough to show me how to spin allowing me to borrow their wheels for the day. My friend that owns Handweaver's knitting shop in Kalamazoo became a dealer and I bought this Ashford Traveler from her just recently. I went to Handweaver's yesterday for my first lesson! This was so exciting! I didn't produce quality yarn at first, but am improving after just two days. Today I attended the weekly meeting of the Weft and Wooly Spinners and Weaver's guild here in my county and one of my friends there helped me some more. By the time I left the meeting, I was really getting the hang of it. I made a few adjustments to the wheel as far as tension goes and things just started falling into place. The wool roving I am working on is a natural undyed wool from a brown Corriedale sheep. It's lovely. One of the ladies took this picture of me. My alpaca shawl made of hand spun, undyed alpaca is hanging on the back of the chair. I hope you were surprised by the surprise item!

The next picture was taken in our hayfield on Tuesday. Clint and I had been gone for the day and on our way home we were saying we ought to hurry and get a family picture done for Christmas. We were discussing how it would be nice to have the round bales done up to stand against. Got home and the farmer had baled the back acreage that afternoon! A quick call to him secured us one bale to pose by! He kindly left it for us until evening. We got this picture just before darkness closed in. He was there waiting for the one last bale while we were doing the photo shoot! I suppose he thought we were just a little weird with a chair dragged way out there and me holding flowers! It's the 70's coming out in me! I never was a hippie, I just remember seeing them around! We will put this picture on our Christmas cards this year, most likely!

I want to explain about the blog set-up here. Rhiannon tried to help me arrange the pics differently and for some reason we are not getting the various arrangements we wanted. We couldn't make the computer cooperate. So excuse the blocky format.

I've been thining alot lately about various things of a more spiritual nature that I want to write about in the next few days. Stay tuned tomorrow for more of those thoughts. Just wanted to get the surprise item revealed and also let you see the beautiful fall colors we are currently enjoying in our area. Today as I was driving I see the colors have just "popped" out in the last day or so. Very beautiful. Reminds me of God's great intricate love for beauty and His creation. Blessings, LORI

SURPRISE ITEM UPDATE!!!

Just a quick little update--if you're going to try to guess the surprise item that came to my house--do it quick! I think there will be a picture on here tomorrow of this interesting new thing. It finally made the transition stage this morning from laying in the basement in a zillion pieces to being a finely assembled item. I actually got a very unexpected chance to work with it later in the day--absolutely made my day! Stay tuned! Blessings, LORI

AN AMAZING TESTIMONY AND THE COLOR REPORT

We are back from the northern color tour! It was a fast trip, but a lovely one. The color north of Traverse City was said to be at 100% while we were there. We spent lots of time driving the back roads, even many two-tracks, looking for elk. We never did see any, but did get a picture of a porcupine. I noticed him out of the corner of my eye as we drove very slowly down one of these two track "seasonal" roads. (I guess seasonal means they don't plow those roads.) We were driving very slowly and I saw something scurry into the brush. We backed up and here was Mr. Porcupine slowly lumbering away from our vehicle. Clint took his picture as he headed up a bare tree. Isn't he cute? It was close to dark when we took the two porcupine pictures.

The other picture is of us by a waterfall in one of the cities, either Traverse or Petosky--I can't remember for sure. We thought it was a lovely place to pose! Other people were using it for photos as well. It was very cold up north! See our winter jackets?

It was interesting that on the way home we seemed to detect a sudden "line" where the color was much less pronounced. Only low areas were very colorful south of that line.

The one thing we regretted is that we had almost no sunshine while we were up there which made the colors appear more dulled. It was still lovely, though.

Update: the surprise item is still in pieces, but I sanded it today. One more coat of tung oil and it will be ready to assemble!

I want to give you a little testimony that I hope will encourage your faith. Today while I was cleaning suddenly a person came to mind that I hadn't thought of for probably more than a year. I do not know the individual, but someone at our church babysits for them and has asked prayer for them before. The individual is a child that has physical challenges and handicaps. It has literally been over a year since their name was mentioned as a prayer request, but this child suddenly came to mind today and I felt I should pray for him. Later in the afternoon I was taking my walk and I had been praying all day about various things among which was the fact that I want to be more keen and aware of hearing God's still small voice, giving me warnings, instructions, etc. I was really beseeching the Lord to speak to me and help me hear His voice in very accurate ways and about minor details of life. After supper we were all sitting around in the living room and the phone rang. It was a lady from our church, the one who babysits for this child. She was asking that we pray for the child since he had been exposed to the H1N1 virus and apparently tested positive for it. This child's resistance is compromised by the physical limitations he faces to start with. Clint took the call and when he told me what it was, my heart was so encouraged by the fact that God was WAY ahead of this whole situation! He was prompting the saints to pray even before the request came! I can only imagine how many other Christians there were who were familiar with his situation that the Lord might have been prompting in the past few days. Isn't that exciting? I have had that happen several times before, but it has been a few years since I experienced this. It was a boost to my faith to know I had "heard" God correctly. I called the lady back and told her what had happened and I think it was a great encouragement to her to know that the Lord cares so much about a situation that He goes way ahead of our concerns and tries to motivate and mobilize the saints to stand against an attack! Isn't that cool?! Made my day to know that maybe I was used to help this child remain strong.

The lesson of that account is this: pay close attention to those little promptings that seem so small. When the name of someone passes through your mind and you think it was merely your own thoughts, pray for them. It may well be the Holy Spirit trying to speak to you to warn you of a need. I had this happen also with a couple of countries long ago. Suddenly the name of a small, little heard of country went through my mind one day and so I prayed for that place only to find out a day later that they were experiencing a coup at that time. It turned out to be largely "bloodless" according to the newspapers and that made me know that the Lord was possibly prompting people all over the globe to pray for that place at that time. What could have been an uprising that claimed many lives turned out to be pretty quiet in the end! That has happened to me more than once. The second time it was another country and I found out a few days later that a plane had crashed there. We do not realize what all types of things we may be called on to pray about, do we? Another Christian friend of mine has had the same type of thing happen to her. She stops and prays and has sometimes found out later that the person she was praying for was in danger at that time. God still speaks to prompt us and longs to have a close relationship with His people. I want to draw closer to God. Loving Him and serving Him is an exciting adventure! May He receive all the glory! Blessings, LORI

THE HARVEST IS GREAT

Jesus said, "The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest." matthew 9:37-38

This time of year it is easy for us to see the spiritual principles that Jesus was talking about; they are illustrated all around us as the harvest for another year is brought in. Our daughter, Rhiannon, works for a hybrid seed corn company. Right now that means long, long days of work as farmers hurry to get the harvest in while conditions are just right. Sometimes the work is monotonous. When the harvest is ready, there is no putting it off! You can't tell the corn not to dry on time. You can't tell it to wait in the field while you go shopping! When the harvest is ready, you must work!

How can we apply this to our lives as far as soul-winning goes? I was pondering that today. It seems most of us Christians have longed to be see revival most of our lives. We have prayed for it, hoped for it, worked for it. But are we ready to be a worker when the harvest is at our door? One guy in our church has humbly reminded us for years that we may not be ready if a huge harvest were to occur. Speaking of our church in particular, he has always admonished and encouraged us to prepare ourselves for the revival that we hope will come. He caused us to question whether or not we were ready to meet the needs of a number of new believers, should they suddenly be added to our ranks. New believers need attention and help. Just like a harvest, sometimes their needs can't wait while we get it together. Sometimes the work is long and monotonous!

Maybe we don't see widespread harvest because we are not ready. The Lord is certainly ready since the word says He is not willing that any should perish. We Christians need to have a plan, a dedication in ourselves that will stay the course and work the harvest as it is brought in. If churches were suddenly full, would we have the dedicated workers ready to disciple the new believers? Or are we too busy doing our own things? I would like to propose that if we are not dedicated enough to receive a harvest, possibly we are not doing the right things to reap the harvest to begin with. Ask yourself if you are mature enough yourself to help a new believer. Are there enough mature, dedicated disciples of the Lord ready to handle a large harvest?

These are thoughts to ponder as we pray. The Lord tells us that the harvest isn't the problem, it's the lack of workers. Interesting.

The above picture is the applesauce project. We finally finished earlier this week. I thought it was an appropriate pic to add to a blog about harvest. The apples are just one of the many crops being brought in right now in Michigan. That beautiful pink sauce is all natural color. The Jonathan apples mixed with Cortlands and MacIntosh made the lovely color. First we wash and core the apples, then quarter them and cook them in several pots on the stove. When they are mushy, we run them through the strainer you see in the picture. The skins go one way and the sauce comes out the other. After adding a bit of sugar, I put the finished sauce in jars, affix lids and run them through the pressure cooker. This year we got 27 quarts plus some to eat fresh! A big job done!!

Heading for the north tomorrow. Fall color report in a few days! Blessings, LORI

QUICK NEWS

We have been busy...I mean way busy around here this week. We are trying to squeeze a 3-day vacation in real quick. We have plans to go up north with friends to see the autumn color. We are leaving on Thursday and will be back late Saturday.

I can hardly pack in all the stuff I need to do before we leave. Then I have only 10 days after we get back before Rhiannon and I head to Tennessee. I'm so looking forward to that trip that I want to have all my chores done as much as possible so I can forget them and relax in the south--my favorite place!

I have a few pictures I hope to post on here before we leave to show you the one big task we were up to around here in the last week. It's all done now--thankfully! The reason I put so few pics on is because our system is so slow that it literally takes me hours to post several pics. I cooked supper one night while babysitting the computer while it loaded them. It's a big job!

The one really big chore on my mind is "A Sturdy Fence." As happened with "The Fields of May," you get to a point where you are scrambling to make sure everything is just as you want it before the book goes to print. That's where I'm at. It's been proofread, checked and re-typed, but I just get these little last-minute thoughts that need to be added. I am re-reading again and setting everything in order in a mad rush to get it to the publisher! They assured me this morning that I'm ok and can take my vacations and relax! Phew! That's good!

Will write more soon, hopefully with pics. The surprise item is getting a second coat of tung oil! No guesses yet? Clue: part of it is round. Blessings, LORI

WHEN PIGS FLY

Happy Sunday, everyone! We had a wonderful day at church, new people visiting, the whole worship team back, vibrant music and singing, good teaching and preaching, and breakfast for lunch served afterward as a fundraiser for our Bible memory program!

When Pigs Fly....well swine flu! Have you heard some of the jokes like that going around? Well, I said the other day I wanted to comment on that. I feel like I'm sticking my neck out a bit here, but lately that's happening alot. I have never before in my life felt such a "squeezing" and "tightening" of things concerning my faith as I have in the last few years and more specifically in the last few months. The days are surely coming when Christians need to be sure of what they believe and willing to stand for their faith.

Concerning the flu: One day last week, I heard nothing but flu, flu everywhere I went. It was on the news, it was on Christian programming, people were talking about it. Someone confronted me about it in a store, etc., etc. Ever since that day, it's been the same, more and more talk and more and more fear. I heard it at church today, of all places. The reason I want to comment on it is this. I think we can get ourselves feared into alot of things.I believe we need to be wise and cautious and take common sense precautions for WHATEVER might harm us, but truly, has all this talk of flu done us any good? I know there are reports and people have died and my heart goes out to their families. But when we fear, the possibility of panic results. The bottom line for Christians is that we need to live above these situations--and that means alot of things. It could mean that you are first of all not fearing epidemics of any sort. The Bible speaks of fear coming from the enemy. God has not given us a spirit of fear. You need to be discerning truth and not just accepting whatever the news or anyone else is telling you. I think we sometimes create our own problems by magnifying what we fear until it takes hold and wreaks destruction. The enemy loves to play on fear. Read Psalm 91 and learn all about how a child of God should view plagues and threats.


One of the people that talked to me that certain day about the flu was an older lady, a seasoned Christian that I very much respect. Just out of the blue as we met in a store, she said to me, "What is all this panic about the flu?" (or a very similar statement) "I remember when we were young (so do I) that flu came and went each year, it lasted about 3 days and made you think you were dying." But there was not all this panic and you just dealt with it. We are becoming a society that thinks we have to insulate ourselves from every possible threatening organism to the point of ridiculousness. I am very much a clean freak type person that takes above average precautions with cleanliness, but I feel like even I can strike a balance. I do all I can and believe the Lord would have me to do and then I trust Him to keep me from harm. I use the brains He gave me and then I must walk by faith. And having said that.....why not walk by faith and learn to use the scripture, take it literally (like medicine--Proverbs suggests that, you know) and learn to walk in divine health. Christians should be the last people that promote all the fear talk about the flu or anything else.

Divine healing being my favorite biblical subject, I could literally preach the angles of this for days and days and I know my readers don't want to hear that (if you do, let me know!), but let me make one last point. When we participate in the negativem,fear promoting discussions that characterize our society, what are we conditioning ourselves into? Ask yourself that question. If someone can make us believe something that causes so much fear what else can they talk us into? That means we've given them a certain power over us to influence us. Watch your tongue. Proverbs is filled with that admonition. Our mouths can be our own worst enemies. Study those scriptures that deal with what you say and the effect your words have and your life will change!

The surprise item is currently in pieces in my basement and is being conditioned piece by piece with tung oil. Any guesses? It's almost ready for assembly. PS: My speaking engagement went very well yesterday, thanks for your prayers! Be encouraged in the Lord! Isaiah 53:4 Blessings, LORI

UPDATE ON THE SURPRISE ITEM THAT CAME TO MY HOUSE!

Yesterday I made a flying trip to Kalamazoo to pick up the surprise item! Yes, it's here! I'll not tell you what it is yet because I want to post a picture to reveal its identity and while some assembly is still required--actually all of the assembly is still required--the item will not be named yet! I was very excited. I'm a little bummed because I'm so busy for the next several days, I don't know when the item can be put together. I have some preliminary work to do on it, then Clint has to assemble it.

I've been touched in my heart about alot of things to write in the last few days, especially yesterday. I heard the "flu" mentioned so many times yesterday and today that I can't help but think it's on eveyone's mind right now. I want to give some encouragments along that line but will wait til the next post to do so.

Am doing alot of work for tomorrow's ladies' meeting at which I will speak. Please pray for me! I hope to have lots of interest in my books as well as deliver a message that I feel the Lord really wants to share with people. I'll be speaking twice during the day--both times on the same subject but with a little different slant each time. My topic is "Hearing the Lord's Voice." Hearing God is a favorite subject of mine. I've diligently journaled during my devotional times for years and tried to pay close attention to how the Lord wants to speak to me through the scriptures, His still, small voice communicating to my heart, and once He even spoke to me and confirmed something which I have just come to recently believe was a sign--as in a "sign or wonder." I'll share that story with you at a later time and you decide what you think of it! I think you'll find it very encouraging. I will be sharing that tomorrow in the morning session and by the very unique nature of what happened, I hope the story will open the door for my afternoon session. Hopefully it will encourage the ladies that hearing God speak and direct you begins with a relationship with Him--first through salvation through Jesus and then in a continuing, vital, close, day by day relationship with God through the Holy Spirit. This involves being in the word on a regular basis.

I've been canning alot of applesauce. Took a break today. Yesterday's batch was incredibly good. Many of the Jonathan apples got in the mix and the result was a beautiful, breathtakingly pink product that tasted as good as it looked! I've got 13 quarts so far. Many more apples yet to can, but they have to wait until tomorrow. I've had only enough time for a 6-7 quart cooker full per day! I use Jonathan, Cortland, and McIntosh together. I've always been pleased with the results but this year I doubled the Jonathans. Good idea. Let me know if you any guesses on the surprise item. You see them in many fairytales. Blessings, LORI

MAKING APPLESAUCE, A RECIPE SUGGESTION, MY NEW BOOK COVER AND MORE CLUES!

Today was a wonderful day around here! Rhiannon had the day off. After a couple of weeks of 12 hour days, this was welcome! She and I headed to Kalamazoo to do some shopping. I had a few items to pick up for my speaking engagement on Saturday.

I had intended to do applesauce today, but when I found out this was the alternative--you guessed it--I went to town! Actually I hurried and canned 6 quarts of the best applesauce after we got home. I fixed a good main dish for supper and made it to church on time--all this was done between 4:30 and 6:45 when we headed over to church! I was pretty happy about that!

Yesterday I got the first pictures of the cover for my new book, "A Sturdy Fence." This was very exciting! I really like it! After all the hard work of writing a book, choosing and approving the cover is like the icing on the cake! This book picks up where "The Fields of May," left off, but deals with lots of little things that can go wrong in a courtship! I hope you'll all want to read it. I think there are several encouraging things that anyone can glean from this story.

I want to comment on a scripture that I've been meditating on. I'm going to include it in my talk on Saturday. It's Proverbs 21:5 "The plans of the diligent lead surely to plenty, But those of everyone who is hasty, surely to poverty." This scripture reminds me that if I want to prosper, I have to make good plans and goals and stick to them. It is a rare person that gets rich by accident. Of course, getting rich is not the goal here, but you don't even make a decent living by accident. It takes work. It takes plans and diligence. It's another one of those things that only time will reward. You do all this little stuff day by day and eventually you look back and say, "wow, I accomlished all that!" (Things like making applesauce year after year or saving in a bank account!).

Today I held in my hands some of the "other materials" that will go along with the "thing" that is coming to my house. I found out it will be in tomorrow. I will not get it until Friday, most likely. It comes from a long ways away. Some assembly required! Do you have a guess what it is?

Today's recipe suggestion: The other night we had chips and salsa. We had some leftover cheese sauce and added our own cheese to it for a taco bar last night. I made taco meat as well. Tonight I took the leftovers--the taco meat, the cheese mixture and added it to boiled macaroni. I added a little milk for consistency and had the most wonderful homemade hamburger, taco, macaroni stuff you could imagine. It's a great quick dish for using leftover taco stuff! Try it! We had a little of the leftover applesauce as well. I didn't have quite enough to fill a 7th jar and that went well with the homemade taco macaroni.

Hope you enjoyed today's scripture thoughts, recipe and CLUE! Baa, baa black sheep, have you any wool?! Blessings, LORI

TIDBITS OF NEWS AND ANOTHER CLUE

I'm taking a short break today from posting anything very deep! I had a big, tiring day. After getting two loads of laundry hung out, a friend and I went to the apple orchard and we purchased fruit. I bought two bushels for making applesauce plus a few grapes and some squash. Will probably start canning the sauce this week. We also ended up going grocery shopping and getting in on some really good deals. It was two o'clock before we got home.

I started right in on outdoor work once the groceries were put away. Clint ran the tractor and we got most of the rest of the lawn furniture in plus all the dishes that I put in my English garden. I washed them, although not real well and put them in baskets for the winter.

Clint and JT had quite a morning. They went out hunting first thing and didn't see any deer. They came in for breakfast and then took the tractor back out to the back of the woods to set a ground blind. As they stood there working two big, nice bucks jumped out of the cornfield just across from where they hunt and headed for the neighbors' property. Talk about two disheartened guys!

After the yard work was done I baked banana bread and tried to can some stewed tomatoes for which I had no recipe. They all sealed but I don't know how good they'll be. Just an attempt to use the very last of the tomatoes. I got 5 pint and a half jars. I had already put a chicken stew made from leftovers in the crock pot in the morning and so supper was basically ready. JT, Kori, and Emma stayed and we ate chicken stew with dumplings. Seemed it took forever to get the kitchen cleaned up. Everyone around here is complaining of tiredness, backaches, and sore muscles. Rhiannon's been putting in 12 hour days for a couple of weeks with the harvest and she's got sore muscles from sorting corn. In addition to all the normal duties of a week, we are pushing to get outdoor work done before the snow flies. It seems like summer turned into a very cool fall overnight. It's been damp and kind of dreary.

I'm getting ready for my little talk on Saturday for a local ladies' chaplaincy group from one of the factories. I am excited, but am pushing each day to get everything ready for Saturday morning. I wish the sequel to "The Fields of May" had been out before then, but that just won't happen. A lady asked me about it today. She had just finished the first book and was wanting to know where to get a copy of the sequel! That thrilled me! Praise the Lord for the book being something that people can appreciate. I hope it ministers to many folks before it's all said and done!

Today's clue: The thing that is coming to my house would have been appreciated by the woman of Proverbs 31, although I don't think it had been invented yet then. Read the chapter carefully and think about what she was doing. She used a different method to accomplish the same task! Care to guess?

LITTLE MISSIONS WITH BIG IMPACT

Hi, Friends! I hope you are having a lovely fall Sunday. We had quite a few people in church this morning, compared to the last few Sundays. It was good to see everyone once again. Clint preached about missions as we made the final collection of our shoeboxes that will go overseas for children who need basic items for Christmas. We had a grand total of 33 boxes that were filled with school supplies, small toys, etc. Clint had the children come forward and pray over the boxes before we sent them out. We were asked to realize the impact that a small thing like this can have in the lives of people all around the world.

Clint's sermon was very convicting as he helped us see the "bigger picture" involved in missions. He related some instances to us that we've been directly involved in. For instance, the church we support in Kerugoya, Kenya has about 1000 people attending on a Sunday morning and much of the reason is because we and some other churches helped both physically and monetarily to get a building built where they could worship and reach out to their community. He also mentioned another change drive that we are involved in. We put out a bowl for change and even though our little church only collected around $13, added together with all the other churches that participate, the amount has sometimes neared $20-$30 thousand dollars that is then matched and sent to relieve hunger and needs around the world.

This year our upcoming bazaar will have five mission focuses--all local. This means that five separate ministries will be blessed with extra funds because of what we were able to do. It just goes to show that a little goes along way when God is in it. It reminds me of the last blog post I did. Small changes. Only a little effort makes a huge difference over the long haul.

Our church usually has 4 mission focuses divided up in three month segments throughout each year. Over the life of our pastorate that means alot! It seems so insignificant at the time, but we've got to keep looking at the bigger picture and not get weary in well-doing. This was a good word for me since I tend to shy away from missions. That's not because I'm against mission work--exactly the opposite is true--I just am a person that is geared toward projects where I can see a tangible result for my efforts. In mission endeavors, you often don't see where the money went and seldom do you actually get to go to any of the places you supported. Bcause I am drawn to needlework and many "hands on, labor intensive," activities where you actually see the results, I think that accounts for why the more vague and obscure things are often hard for me to embrace. But Clint's sermon today really made me think and reconsider my participation. When he began listing all the stuff we've been able to do, I realized that even a few people in a little church like ours have a big impact. This would be missed greatly if we just quit and decided not to do anything because we thought it was small and insignificant. He also helped us to realize that things like the boxes that we sent out this morning represent more than just school supplies and toys. They are a tool for effective evangelism. Proverbs says that a man's gift makes a way for him. When these small things are given in Jesus' name, people remember that it was Jesus that was glorified and magnified. That's exactly what we want to do. Good food for thought.

Here's today's clue for "what's coming to my house--hopefully within a week ,": It is bigger than a breadbox. Rumplestiltskin and Sleeping Beauty. Care to guess?

Blessings, LORI

A SURPRISE ITEM AND MORE MODESTY THOUGHTS

I want to tell you that I have a little surprise coming to my house in a week or so. If you care to, go ahead and make a guess as to what it might be. I'll give a clue every day. First clue: It's not my new granddaughter--she's not due until the end of December at the earliest.

This particular "thing" is something that I've waited for for a long time--years and years, in fact.
I am very excited about it!

I got to go to town today and shopped pretty much all afternoon. I tried a few things on, but brought nothing home from the clothing line except three pair of bargain socks! I got some really nice socks for 50cents per pair. It was the usual shopping trip, me trying on stuff and finding nothing that fit right. I mentioned this dilemma in the modesty discussions last week. I did notice today though that there are a few items in the fall clothing line that are modest and it might be a good idea to take advantage of that. The new long, blousy plaid shirts are pretty modest since they cover the hips if you wear them with jeans. I wanted to mention last week that I've noticed that when the fashion trends change, often there will mercifully be one or two items in a new year that will be modest and can be used easily.

When Rhiannon and I were in England a year and a half ago, the style of dresses over leggings was already popular there. If the dresses are sufficiently long and loose, I think this is one of the nicest modest styles to come along in a while. It gives women the luxury of slacks, combined with the more dressy look of a dress. I bought a dress like that immediately when I got home. A friend of mine bought one too and we were the first to wear that style to church. She felt so self-conscious that she and I determined to wear ours on the same day so we'd not feel like we stuck out in the crowd too much (does that sound like junior high?)! Anyway, today's modesty tip is to search hard for the few modest things that are on the market in any given year and then take advantage of them for when the "drought" of modest clothing comes along!

You may wonder why modesty is an issue with me. Well, as I said, we were all taught as little girls to dress quite differently than you see nowadays. I can literally remember when the high school had "slacks day" during Winterfest so the girls could wear slacks once during the school year! I was in elementary at that time (late 60's) and so it didn't apply to me. We little girls were allowed to wear slacks any time. As well as being ingrained in me, I have already mentioned several scriptures that apply. Because I have written the courtship books, there is also a connection. Most people that will willingly participate in courtship instead of the casual dating of our society are individuals that are looking seriously at all aspects of the Christian life, including the witness they leave with the way they dress. That's another reason to be modest. For the single girls--if you're hoping to marry, what kind of man do you want to attract? If you believe you have to dress very seductively to attract a man, then you will get a man that probably doesn't have your best interests at heart. It's just that simple. Dress modestly and you will be attractive to men who appreciate a woman for her true self.

I'll keep you posted on the "surprise" item each time I write this week! Blessings, LORI

SMALL CHANGES

The middle picture is Clint helping me get all the stuff out of the English Garden and into the barn for the winter--Beverly Hillbillies style!!

Well, here is the garden in the fall...so much different from the pretty spring pictures just a few months ago.

Today was a very productive day. I got so much done I can hardly believe it! After cleaning the church this morning, I took a little break and headed for Sturgis to sit and knit with the ladies from the Spinners and Weavers guild. What fun! Afterwards I came home and helped Clint with preparations for winter in the yard and gardens. He had mowed the lawn and since he had the tractor out, I took advantage of the opportunity to get some things hauled into the barn. The "stuff" from the English garden had to be brought in for winter. We got most of it in two loads--only a few more things to carry in. I took the curtains down and washed them. That's why the center "bed frame" looks so bare! Time to put them away til next year!

As well as all the hauling I got many of the pathways weeded and a few of the beds. I picked the last of the tomatoes and dug the last row of potatoes. Found a few more stray onions as well. Clint mowed over the garden leaving just the raspberries and a few tomatoes that looked like they had some potential yet.

So much has changed in such a short time. As you can see from the pics there is not much blooming and things look dry and old. Only a few months ago this garden was vibrant with life. I thought alot today about how things can change very rapidly. It reminded me of the theme of my talk that I'll be giving on the 10th of October. I want to challenge the listeners to learn to "hear God." This, of course, starts with having a good foundation in the scripture. As I was studying the other day for this upcoming event, I realized that I had several verses in the Proverbs underlined. When I grouped them all together, I realized that over the course of nine chapters (13-21) there are many scriptures that address work, diligence, and prospering. If you were reading only a chapter a day for your devotions, in a little over a week you'd have gleaned a really good work ethic just from these few chapters in Proverbs! If you diligently thought about these verses, and put them into practice, it would change the way you live--and all in 9 days! Wow! Think of it. A lot of little changes go along way! Next time you get your Bible out and read, remember how the word of God is changing you and alot of little changes make a big change in a short time! Blessings, LORI